


Tiny Scary Creatures

by ThirdGenerationRockette



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Kidfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 11:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirdGenerationRockette/pseuds/ThirdGenerationRockette
Summary: He watches as she holds up a tiny spider costume, black with some kind of fuzz decorating the front, red eyes on top of what he assumes is a hood, and huge black furry legs sticking out at all angles. Their two-year-old has been set on dressing as a spider since they first asked his opinion on Halloween costumes and received a thoughtful frown followed almost immediately by an enthusiastic "Spider! Big spider!".





	1. Chapter 1

The apartment is silent when he walks through the door, the small lamp in the hallway left on for his benefit, lessons having been learned from the numerous times he's tripped over his own damn feet in the dark and woken up the entire household. Hanging up his jacket, he slips out of his shoes and pushes them under the coat stand. He's been out for drinks with the team but it's not quite eleven so he knows Mackenzie will still be awake, but the quiet tells him both boys are thankfully sleeping, so he heads towards their room first and gently opens the door. Thomas is asleep on top of his bedding, his long arms and legs splayed across the width of the bed. It's a gesture so reminiscent of Mackenzie when she falls asleep before he's in the room that it never fails to make him grin. It also makes him grin how differently she sleeps when he is in the room, using him to anchor her unruly limbs by essentially pinning him down with them. Not something he will ever, ever, complain about. He lifts Thomas up just slightly, enough to pull the bedding over him, even though he knows it will be kicked off again long before morning.

In the other bed, Henry's sleeping style is, as usual, the complete opposite of his brother's. He sleeps like it's his main purpose in life, snuggled so far under the bedding that only the top of his head, his tousled blonde hair, peeks out. When he first moved from crib to bed not so long ago, Will used to panic almost nightly that he was buried _too_ deeply, that he would get too warm, that he might overheat...talked down only by Mac, who would roll her eyes and tell him to calm the fuck down. Which he managed, eventually.

He backs out of the room and closes the door with a soft click, carrying on down the hallway. Pushing the door to their room open, he sees exactly what he expected; his wife is on the bed, half sitting, half kneeling, glasses sliding down her nose, and a highlighter in her hand as she frowns at one of the many sheets of paper spread out in front of her. She looks up and smiles when she sees him, tucking an errant piece of hair behind her ear.

"Hey," she says, her smile widening when he steps closer. "Tricky show tonight? Seemed a little cruel for a Friday."

"I've had easier," he says, the memory of the stubborn senator still fresh in his mind as he returns her smile. "Was it awful?"

" _He_ was awful, you were remarkably patient. As painful as it probably felt, it was a good show." She reaches up and grabs him by the neck of his sweater, pulling his face down to hers, kissing him softly and smiling again when she lets go. "Did you check on the boys?"

"Yep, both sound asleep." He nods and pulls his sweater over his head, dropping it onto the chair at the end of their bed and reaching into the drawer to pull out something to sleep in. "How were they tonight? Alright?"

"Mmm-hmm," she says, chewing slightly on the end of her highlighter before sighing and putting the cap back on and starting to gather up the papers into one pile. "Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, all they're talking about is fucking Halloween. I've given Thomas until tomorrow to make a decision on his costume so we have time to find one. Right now, he still wants to be a sheep...I don't even know."

"A sheep?" He turns back to smirk at her, taking off his jeans and throwing a t-shirt quickly over his head.

"Hell, at least Henry hasn't changed his mind this week." She climbs down off the bed, reaching for a bag in the corner of the room and pulling something out of it, a grin on her face. "Which is good, because this arrived today."

He watches as she holds up a tiny spider costume, black with some kind of fuzz decorating the front, red eyes on top of what he assumes is a hood, and huge black furry legs sticking out at all angles. Their two-year-old has been set on dressing as a spider since they first asked his opinion on Halloween costumes and received a thoughtful frown followed almost immediately by an enthusiastic "Spider! Big spider!".

"Alright, that's pretty cute," he says, having no difficulty picturing Henry wearing it, looking far more sweet than scary, and raking in the candy.

"Well, I beg to differ," she says, holding it up slightly higher as if that somehow makes it less cute. "I mean, yes, it's cute, and Henry will look adorable in it, _obviously_ , but look at it properly."

"I am looking at it." He pauses, genuinely clueless about what she's expecting from him. "What the fuck am I looking for?"

"When they make these costumes, wouldn't you think they'd at least make a token attempt at anatomical correctness?" She phrases her words as a question but he's pretty sure she's not waiting for an answer, which she proves when she goes on. "But no, apparently not. Now, how many limbs do our sons have, Will?"

"Like, in total?" He's baffled, completely baffled, but it's clear there's a bee in her bonnet and he knows her well enough to know she won't rest until it's out. "Total number of limbs, eight. Four each, every one as cute as the next. Honey, I don't have a clue where this is going."

"Henry has four, you're right, two arms, two legs...so, for the purposes of this costume he is essentially already half spider." She winces as she seems to realise how weird that sounded, watching as she shakes her head slightly and continues. "What I mean is, this costume has too many legs."

"It has..." He stops, his gaze shifting to count the legs protruding from the costume before looking back at her. "Eight legs, which I'm pretty sure spiders do have, so I don't get-"

"Exactly!" She says, her tone laced with triumph, a tone he's more than familiar with. "Henry has two legs and two arms which will make up four of the spider's legs, so this thing really only needs four more, not the full eight. I can alter it, I think, I'm sure I can, I guess I can just cut the extra ones off or-"

"Whoa." Stepping closer, he takes the costume out of her hands and holds it in front of her. "This costume is for our two year-old, he can't really count yet, so I'm pretty damn sure his Halloween won't be ruined by this."

"I know that, but..." She sighs and he has to fight the urge to laugh at how much this seems to have outraged her. He's well trained in the art of knowing the right moments to laugh, and this isn't one of them. "I don't want people thinking 'oh, look how cute the McAvoy boys look, but it's such a terrible shame their parents don't have even a basic knowledge of spider anatomy'."

"I would bet both the kids' college funds that nobody is going to be thinking that, absolutely _nobody_ ," he says, allowing a smile to creep into his lips as he sees some of the fight start to go out of her. "The bit about them being cute, sure, but holy shit, Mac, it's just a costume, I don't think people will be counting the legs."

"So I shouldn't cut anything off?" She turns the costume around and looks at the back, sighing before her eyes flit back up to his. "It's fine as it is?"

"Considering it's a Halloween costume for a two year-old, it's totally fine." He takes the costume out of her hand again and slides it back into the bag. "If Henry looks at photos when he's older and needs therapy because we dared to let him be the spider with twelve legs, we'll worry about it then. Deal?"

"Alright," she says with a nod and a hint of a grin as she removes her glasses and puts them down beside the bed. "But you're paying for the therapy."

"Seems fair." He shrugs and turns to head to the bathroom.

He's finishing up in the bathroom when her head appears around the door, before she steps into the room and rests a hand on his back, scratching her nails faintly down the cotton of his t-shirt. Not for first time he's distracted by the realisation of just how much he likes it when she does that...over the t-shirt, under the t-shirt, her nails have some kind of secret powers he wouldn't dream of questioning.

"Can I let you into a secret?" She slides her arms around him and presses herself against his back, and he covers her hands with his as he looks into the mirror at her face peeking around him.

"You hate Halloween." It's a fact, not a question, and he doesn't bother to pretend he thinks otherwise.

"Not a secret?" Her lips quirk into a half smile as he shakes his head slightly.

"Nope, but if it's any consolation, I think you have the kids fooled," he says, raising her hand to his mouth and kissing slowly across her knuckles. "So, we have a spider and potentially a sheep?"

"I did try to remind him that sheep aren't really all that scary, but, I don't know, he seems pretty determined," she says, tugging on his hand until he flicks off the light and follows her back into the bedroom. "See if you can talk him around in the morning, Billy."

"You have something in mind for him, don't you?" It dawns on him suddenly, and her refusal to look directly at him as they climb into bed confirms it. "Go ahead, spill."

"No, I don't, it's totally up to him, I don't have anything..." Sighing, she rolls towards him and drapes herself half across him, her leg sliding between his, her hand settling on his chest as she lets out a long sigh. "Yeah, okay, I do. I want him to be a tiny ninja. Imagine him in a little ninja suit, it would be the cutest thing ever, seriously. He's so sweet, our little Tom Tom, that the idea of him dressing as a full-on ninja is just too much."

"For someone who hates Halloween, you seem to have spent a lot of time thinking about this." He reaches out to turn off the lamp and he hears her soft snort against his chest.

"Crossed my mind for a second, that's all," she murmurs, snuggling more tightly against him and sighing quietly. "I don't really mind if he wants to be a sheep, I guess."

"He could have changed his mind entirely by the morning, we'll see," he says, running his hand down her shoulder to rest against her lower back. "He has years to graduate into ninja suits, I think if he wants to be a sheep now then we should just let him be a sheep."

"I guess so..." she says as he feels her hand slide under his t-shirt and her nails scratch lightly across his stomach.

"I'll see what I can talk him into in the morning." He knows Thomas is strong minded, but he also knows he's a few months from turning four and his attention is still fairly easily diverted.

“You went for drinks after the show?” she asks, and the way her fingers move higher to comb purposefully through the hairs on his chest tells him she didn’t drape herself across him so she could fall asleep. "They're all okay, the staff?"

“Yeah, they're good.” He nods and dips his fingers lower, into her pyjama pants, running them across her ass cheek, grinning when he feels her squirm against him. “You should come too next time, everybody misses you.”

“I’m on their floor, _your_ floor, almost as much as I’m on my own,” she says with a faint snort. “I doubt they have time to miss me.”

“You know what I mean.” He keeps his hand in her pants and manages to shift her so she’s fully on top of him and he can reach around her and slide his free hand up under her tank top at the same time as she scoots awkwardly up his chest so she can press her lips softly against his. “For drinks. You should come for drinks.”

“I know I haven’t been in a while,” she says, given no choice but to pause when he follows her kiss with another, and he feels her gentle sigh as she pulls back, her face somehow more beautiful than ever in the shadows. “I’m just so busy at work right now, and then the boys are so…I don’t want to say exhausting, because that sounds like I’m complaining and I’m not, you know I’m not.”

“Lively,” he says, brushing her hair from her face and running his thumbs across her cheekbones, her skin as soft under his touch as it always has been. “Let’s just say they’re lively.”

“That works.” Her voice is low and he can hear her thinking and even in the dark of the room he can see her biting her lip, or maybe he can just picture the familiar gesture so clearly that his mind is making the assumption. “I will come for drinks soon though, I promise.”

“Why don’t we get a sitter?” He realises they haven’t been out to dinner in weeks and as much as their boys own him completely, he does occasionally miss sitting at a table with just her. A table that isn’t splattered with spaghetti sauce, where they can eat a full meal without stopping to fetch more juice for one of them, or cleaning up after the other. “We could have drinks with everyone and then go somewhere for dinner, just you and me.”

“Mmm, that’s a nice idea.” She agrees and he repeats the movement of his thumbs across her face, a sigh of pure contentment escaping her. “Actually, Leona’s been on at me to let her take the kids again one evening, maybe we should take her up on it. She even talked about having them sleep over there too. God, the boys would love that.”

“She’d spoil the shit out of them, just like she always does, so yeah, they’d love it.” He rolls her off his chest suddenly and onto her back, letting out a huff of laughter at her surprised squeal.

“What _are_ you doing, Mr McAvoy?” She giggles and holy fuck, he loves to hear her laugh, he always has. It’s the perfect sound no matter what the circumstance, but never more so than when she’s underneath him, writhing like she is now.

“I think you’re well aware of what I’m doing.” He rolls off her again and she reaches for him, her arms winding around his neck and trying to pull him back, giggling again as he somehow gets to her pants and drags them down while she’s still hanging on to him. "I'm celebrating the start of the weekend."

“Wait!” She stops him just as his hand moves onto her thigh and pushes her legs apart. “Did you lock the door?”

“I don't think...I don’t know." It’s a valid question but he’s halfway to getting his head between her legs, and locking the door isn’t exactly at the top of his priority list.

“I’m serious, Will.” She slips her fingers into his hair and tugs, hard, sending her message very clearly. “Do you really want to have to come up with an answer to ‘Daddy, what are you doing down there?’ because I don’t, I _really_ don’t.”

When she slides her hand out of his hair, he pushes himself back to the end of the bed, pausing to kiss the inside of her knee, his tongue darting out to taste her skin. He's standing up and is halfway to the door when a sound stops him, an unmistakable "Mommy!". He doesn't know why both he and Mackenzie suddenly fall still, like statues, as though that will send Henry instantly back to sleep. The thought almost makes him laugh out loud which would render the already pointless attempts at silence even more so, so he stifles it.

"Mommy!" Henry's voice calls out again and it's clear he isn't giving up.

"It's like he fucking knew I was halfway to the door," he says, knowing that isn't how it works but really feeling right now like it could be. "He might just go back to sleep, right?"

"Admirable positive thinking, but no, probably not." She sighs and he watches as she rolls over and turns the lamp beside their bed back on, lifting her hips to pull her pants back up her legs. "He's more likely to keep yelling for me, wake Thomas, and then we'll end up with both of them up and bouncing around the place."

"I'll go," he says, gesturing to the door, indicating that he's almost there anyway, not failing to notice how tired she looks in the lamplight and thinking he'll make an effort to get up first in the morning and let her sleep a little if she wants to.

Walking into the bedroom, he glances at Thomas first, who is mercifully still sleeping, and has remarkably remained under his bedding. Henry is a different story, he’s kneeling up in his bed, hands on the side rail and when he sees Will walk into the room, he gives him a wide grin, one more suited to eleven in the morning than eleven at night. Still, his sons’ smiles never fail to win him over, and he finds himself returning Henry's as he slides the rail down and sits on the side of the bed. He remembers a conversation with his father-in-law in which he admitted to being completely bowled over when the boys smile at him, only for Robert to tell him he should be thankful he doesn’t have daughters because he would still be finding himself powerless in the face of their smiles thirty years later.

“Hey there, buddy,” he says, quietly, running a hand through his son’s messy hair, resting a hand on his back as he clambers into his lap. “What are you doing awake? It’s late.”

"No." The little boy shakes his head and his tone is firm.

"What do you mean, no?" he asks, amused but keeping his voice low to make sure at least one of his sons stays asleep. "It _is_ late, and you should be sound asleep, little guy."

"Where's Mommy?" Henry tilts his head and his forehead creases in a tiny frown.

"She's in bed," he answers, lifting his hand to rest on his son's forehead, hoping he isn't awake because he's coming down with something, relieved when his skin feels completely normal, not a hint of heat or clamminess. "Which is where you should be too, in bed, right here, sleeping. Look, your brother's sleeping over there, see?"

"Tom Tom!" Henry's voice gets louder and Will instantly regrets reminding him of his brother's presence on the other side of the room.

"Henry, shush, don't wake him." He ruffles Henry's hair again and kisses the top of his head, breathing in the faint scent of shampoo from where Mackenzie must have given him a bath and washed his hair earlier. "How about you lay back down and I'll sit here until you fall asleep?"

"Want to see Mommy." His tone suggests he has no intention of sleeping until he's seen Mackenzie, and hell, Will knows that feeling all too well.

"Mommy's sleeping, and you need to sleep too," he says, knowing he'll end up taking Henry back to their room and facing the mighty roll of Mackenzie's eyes. "How about you lay back down here, in your bed?"

"No. Want to see Mommy." His tone gets firmer, the volume slightly higher, and Will finds himself torn between standing his ground to convince Henry he should stay in his own bed, and taking him into their room to avoid him waking Thomas and both boys ending up awake half the night.

"Just for a few minutes, and then you have to go back to sleep, okay?" He stands up and Henry winds his arms around him, pressing his face into the crook of his neck as they quietly cross the room and step out into the hallway.

The raised eyebrow Mackenzie greets him with is everything he expected and more, so he meets it with a sheepish smile and walks into the room with their son in his arms. Sitting on the bed next to her, he watches a slow smile spread onto her lips when her eyes land on Henry, who in turn grins at his mother before scrambling into her lap.

"Henry Charles McAvoy, what are you doing awake?" she asks, leaning back against her pillows and pulling her son with her, running her hand gently through his hair. "It's late, you should be sleeping."

"Not sleeping, Mommy," Henry says, reaching out and taking hold of a section of her hair, twirling it slowly between his little fingers.

"Well, I can see that, sweetie." He watches as she turns to him with a raised eyebrow before turning back to their little boy and kissing him softly on the forehead. "But it's late and you should be sleeping. Thomas is sleeping, isn't he?"

"Yep." Henry nods and he sees him grin at Mackenzie again. "Daddy said shush because Tom Tom was sleeping."

"Exactly, that because it's late and time for everybody to sleep," she says, smiling again as Henry's fingers continue to wind their way through her hair. "And you have your nice new bed. You like your bed, right?"

"Big boy bed!" Henry's excited tone suggests he appreciates the bed despite apparently having no current interest in sleeping in it.

"How about Mummy takes you back to your room and you can sleep in your bed, just like Tom Tom is sleeping in his?" He hears the gentle persuasion in her tone but he can also see the stubbornness in their son's eyes, so he doesn't hold out much hope.

"Want to stay here." He bites back a grin at the certainty in Henry's tone, watching as Mackenzie sighs but snuggles further back into her pillows and settles Henry against her.

"Alright, baby," she says quietly, and he watches as she rests her hands on their son's back, one keeping him pressed to her, the other running slowly up and down his spine. "Just for a little while."

Henry fights it at first, the urge to succumb to sleep, his eyes flying open whenever they betray his brain by daring to close, his hands balled into fists against Mackenzie's shoulders. Rolling over, he props himself up on his elbow, watching his son's eyes eventually fluttering shut as the motion of Mackenzie's hand on his back lulls him to sleep. He loves watching her with the kids, he has since the day Thomas was born. She's always been a genius at work, her thoughts racing at a hundred miles an hour, her style often frenetic, impulsive, reactive, but as a mother she's a whole different category of impressive. She's calm, measured, loving, completely practical, and his admiration grows with every passing day. She turns to look at him, sensing his eyes on her, as she so often does when he's gazing at her, completely lost in thought.

"Do you think maybe we made a mistake?" Her voice is hushed, and she frowns faintly as she asks the question. "Should we have put him right into his own room when we moved him from the crib, instead of putting him in with Thomas? I thought it would be a good way to get him used to it, but whenever he wakes up we just end up bringing him in here so he doesn't disturb Thomas."

"Honey, he may be the quieter of the two most of the time, but damn, he has a set of lungs on him when it counts," he says, keeping his voice down too and smiling at her. "He'd have a good shot at waking Thomas even if he was yelling from his own room."

"Yeah, that's true, I guess." She sighs and looks down at Henry who seems to finally be sleeping soundly against her chest, his lips parted slightly in a half-smile. "I just...I'd hate to think we'd pushed him too far too early. Maybe he's too little to be in his own bed, I don't know."

"He's the same age Thomas was." He lifts himself up and moves to sit beside her, looking down at Henry and then smiling at her. "You just don't like it that your babies aren't quite babies anymore."

"I have news for you," she says, her arms still wrapped firmly around the sleeping toddler in her lap. "Henry's always going to be my baby. Even when he's twenty-five, he'll still be my baby."

"Unless we had another one..." He waggles his eyebrows at her, watching as she does exactly what he himself did earlier, dips her head and breathes in Henry's scent, reminding herself that he's still her baby even as he grows into a little boy. "You never know, we might get a little girl to mix things up a bit."

"Are you planning on birthing this imaginary third child?" She smirks at him and he knows she has pondered another baby on more than one occasion, before ruling it out a little more definitively each time, which is why he knows he can tease her.

"I don't think the male body has evolved to that point, or _will_ ever evolve to that point, but you know I would if I could," he says, with a shrug, meaning it but also well aware that even if he could, he wouldn't manage it with half the strength she has on both occasions so far.

"Well, the fact is that you can't," she says, lifting a hand from Henry's back and reaching across to cup his face, her thumb trailing across his chin as she smiles at him. "So the two we have are the two we're sticking with, mister."

"Fair enough." He smiles at her and shakes his head. "I'll remind you of that next time you're gazing longingly at someone's newborn like I gaze at a steak, and giving me the big doe eyes"

"Please do." She returns his smile, sitting up slightly and shifting Henry higher up towards her shoulder. "And I do _not_ give you big doe eyes."

"No, right, I totally must be thinking of someone else..." he says, watching as she swings her legs slowly around to sit on the edge of the bed, her hand securely on Henry's back.

"I'm going to put him back down," she says, standing up, their sleeping son not flinching, finally as sound asleep as he should have been all along. "And do you know what I'm going to do when I come back?"

"No idea." His eyes follow her as she moves slowly and quietly across the bedroom.

"I'm going to take these PJs off again..." She takes one more step towards the doorway, and smirks at him. "And I'm going to lock that damn door."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Sitting on the bed, he watches as Henry aims straight for Mackenzie's head, as he usually does, his current obsession for stroking her hair not waning in the slightest as his fingers start to run gently through it. Thomas decides to let Henry have that one, and he curls up next to her, his hand reaching for hers and patting it gently, and it's at that point she finally opens her eyes and a gentle smile curves onto her lips._

Considering Henry was still wide awake at almost midnight, he's almost unreasonably lively again at seven, as both boys let him herd them from the bedroom and down the hallway, hushing them with a reminder that Mommy is still sleeping. The first words out of Henry's mouth ten minutes earlier, as they are most mornings, were "I want to eat", followed by Thomas seconding the sentiment, meaning he's now going to attempt to make breakfast for them both, coffee for himself, and keep the two of them entertained, all somehow without waking Mackenzie.

"Alright guys, cereal?" He follows the boys into the kitchen, lifting Henry up and into his booster seat at the table, Thomas climbing up to sit in the chair next to him.

"Cereal and juice, Daddy." Thomas grins at him and he returns it.

"What do we say, Thomas?" He's in the habit now of reminding them of their manners, something Mackenzie is almost militant about, her familiar insistence that 'politeness costs nothing' ringing in his ears.

"Please," Thomas says quickly, ducking an attempt by Henry to grab him, for God only knows what reason. "Cheerios and apple juice please, Daddy."

"Good boy," he says, ruffling his eldest son's dark hair, turning to Henry and doing the same, his fingers this time running through a messy blonde mop, his youngest boy's morning hair rivalling that of his own. "What about you, buddy? Cheerios good for you too?"

"Toast," Henry says, shaking his head at the suggestion of cereal, as he thought might be the case. Thomas has much less of an appetite than his brother, happy with a small bowl of cereal, frequently tiring of it before he's halfway through, Henry, on the other hand, has been known to make his way through more toast than really should be possible for one so small.

"Toast, _please_." He nudges Henry gently, still aware that he's only two so his manners are still somewhat hit and miss.

"Please toast." Henry nods and smiles at him. "And peanut butter."

"Sounds good," he says, turning to flick the coffee machine on before reaching for the bread and dropping two slices quickly into the toaster, moving to the cupboard to grab the cereal and a bowl for Thomas. "How about we make toast for Mommy too, when she wakes up?"

"Is Mommy still _sleeping_?" Thomas asks, his eyes wide as he seems to suddenly remember that his mother is usually the first one awake, his brow crinkling in confusion as he ponders why she's still in bed this morning.

"Mommy's sleepy?" Henry phrases it as a question but doesn't appear to require an answer, instead pointing at the pattern on his brother's pyjamas and grinning. "You got cars, Tom Tom."

"Yeah, I do," Thomas says, holding his arm out in front of him and returning Henry's grin. "Red ones, and blue ones. I like them."

Pouring juice into two plastic cups, one with a lid, one without, he sets both down on the table in front of them, smiling as Thomas says thank you instantly, followed by Henry repeating him. He moves back to the counter and pours himself a large mug of coffee, and fills a bowl with cereal for Thomas, watching the two of them as he reaches for the milk. Henry has taken hold of Thomas's sleeve and is peering more closely at the cars printed on the fabric, and Thomas seems to have decided he's okay with that for now. He remembers when they found out Mackenzie was pregnant for the second time, wondering if the kids being so close together in age would mean they would be buddies, or if they would drive each other crazy. So far it's been the former, Thomas happily taking Henry under his wing, Henry silently following his brother around like a diligent little shadow. There's a chance they could decide at some point that they can't stand each other, but for now it's mostly harmonious.

The toast pops up and he laughs when Henry lets out an excited "yay!", like he hasn't eaten in weeks. Spreading the peanut butter on thickly, just as he knows Henry likes it, he cuts the toast into triangles ("Boats, Daddy, pointy boats") and slides it onto the table in front of him, along with Thomas's cereal. Grabbing his coffee, he sits down with them and watches as they both start on their breakfast, silence briefly filling the kitchen, broken only by Henry crunching on his toast and the sound of Thomas's spoon clinking against his cereal bowl.

He's glad he managed to intercept the two of them before they made it into their room, before they could wake Mackenzie, who didn't move a muscle when he climbed out of bed and closed the bedroom door behind him. He knows he has the less exhausting end of the deal during the week; she's always been an early riser so she's usually awake before he is, often has the boys fed before he's up and dressed, she's at work long before him, and she's more often than not still wide awake when he gets home after the show.

She struggled to manage it at first, even with him doing all he could to help, taking the load off her as much as he could. She questioned her abilities as a mother, her commitment to her job, until one night she came home suddenly revitalised, telling him she was the president and she was going to make it work in that way that suited their family. So when Henry was born, she put her foot down with Pruit and told him she would bring work home if necessary, but that she was going to be home in time to feed, bathe and put her boys to bed every night, and so far it's a routine she's been able to stick to. The problem with how early she wakes up during the week is her inability to sleep any later at weekends, so when she does sleep later than him like she has this morning, he knows she's tired. He's permanently relieved to have apparently married a superhero.

"What should we do today, when Mommy's awake?" he asks, watching as Henry tries to lick a blob of peanut butter from the back of his hand, succeeding somehow in spreading most of it across his cheek.

"Ducks," Henry answers immediately, and completely predictably, considering there's nothing he enjoys more than going to the park to feed the ducks, listening intently to Mackenzie as she points out the different kinds. (As well as a superhero, she's also an encyclopaedia.) With the exception of economics, he's yet to find a subject she wasn't at least slightly knowledgeable in, ducks included.

"Does heading to the park later sound good to you too, buddy?" He turns to Thomas who is chasing one final stubborn Cheerio around his bowl, and looks up at him only when he finally has it on his spoon.

"I like the ducks," Thomas says, pausing to eat his final Cheerio, then carrying on. "But I really like the playground."

"I'm sure we can go to the playground too," he says, smiling at both boys. "You know what else we need to do?"

"What?" Thomas pushes his bowl away and reaches for his juice, taking a gulp, peering up over the top of the cup.

"We need to figure out what you want to wear for Halloween." He smiles, wondering if Thomas is still set on a sheep costume, or if he can be talked into something slightly more scary. "Henry has decided on his costume already."

"Spider!" Henry says, around a mouthful of toast. "Big, scary spider!"

"Right," he says, grinning at his youngest son's enthusiasm, and turning to Thomas, who appears lost in thought. "What do you think? Something scary...a ghost, or a monster of some kind maybe?"

"No, I don't want to be a ghost." Thomas shakes his head, frowning. "Or a monster...I wanted to be a sheep."

"A sheep, huh?" He smiles at Thomas, thinking if he wants to be a sheep then hell, he should be a sheep. "How do we make a sheep scary? Or maybe some people are scared of sheep anyway. Lots of people are scared of things that other people don't find scary at all, right?"

"Yep, like Mommy," Thomas says with a nod. "Mommy says jellyfishes are scary, right?" 

"She sure does," he says, smiling a little wider at what he thinks may be the idea forming in Thomas's head. "Your Mommy is the bravest person in the whole world but if you asked her what the scariest thing ever was, she'd say jellyfish."

"Then I'm going to be a jellyfish." Thomas grins at him, his decision made in a split second, based on the fact that if Mackenzie is scared of something then it must be terrifying. "But I don't want to scare Mommy."

"Don't worry, we'll give Mommy a warning so she knows it's you and not a real jellyfish." He watches as Thomas giggles at the thought of Mackenzie confusing him with a jellyfish, Henry joining him and giggling too, even though he doesn't know what he's laughing at, just that his brother is amused and that's enough for him.

Toast is eaten, cereal is finished, he drinks two mugs of coffee and cleans up after the boys before popping two more slices of bread into the toaster and reaching for the honey.

"Is there toast for Mommy?" Thomas asks, drinking his juice and making him smile when he moves Henry's cup protectively away from the edge of the table.

"Yep," he says, nodding, taking a plate and a mug from the cupboard, pouring a coffee for Mackenzie as he waits for the toast. "Toast and coffee for Mommy. I thought we could take it to her in bed, see if she's awake."

"Don't forget honey, Mommy likes toast with honey," Thomas says, grinning at him when he holds up the jar in response to show he has it covered.

"Want to get down, Daddy," Henry says, pushing his hands against the table, frowning slightly at being stuck in his chair as he watches Thomas hop down easily from his.

He lifts him out of the seat and sets him down on the floor, smiling as Thomas takes his brother's hand and holds on tightly to him, realising they're waiting for him to finish making Mackenzie's breakfast so they can wake her. Splitting the two pieces of toast between two plates so they can each carry one (he learned that lesson the hard way...), he picks up the coffee and follows the boys from the kitchen. Henry is walking slowly, his two year-old legs not yet as quick or confident as Thomas's, especially when he's balancing a plate in his hands. Thomas is faster but when he reaches the bedroom door, he stops and waits for Henry to catch up. He loves how sweet Thomas is, how protective he is of Henry already, it fills him with pride to watch them together.

"You can go in," he says, leaning in front of where they're standing and opening the door. "But don't leap on Mommy if she's still sleeping, okay? And put the plates down beside the bed."

Thomas puts his plate down on the nightstand and Henry hands him the second plate and watches him do the same again. Walking around the bed, he puts her coffee on the other nightstand, safely out of reach, not wanting his efforts to end up with Mackenzie and the bed sheets covered in coffee. She's awake, but barely, he can tell by her breathing, he can see her trying to reach the point where she can force her eyes to open. Thomas manages to climb up onto the bed, and Henry gives it a try, before accepting it's too high and holding his arms up until he lifts him and deposits him beside his brother.

Sitting on the bed, he watches as Henry aims straight for Mackenzie's head, as he usually does, his current obsession for stroking her hair not waning in the slightest as his fingers start to run gently through it. Thomas decides to let Henry have that one, and he curls up next to her, his hand reaching for hers and patting it gently, and it's at that point she finally opens her eyes and a gentle smile curves onto her lips.

"Morning, honey," he says, getting in on the action and dropping a kiss to the top of her head as she sighs.

"Morning." She grins at both boys, Henry releasing his grip on her hair and sitting back beside her, leaning against Thomas who grins happily back at her. "There seem to be an awful lot of people in this bed."

"Four people," Thomas says, proudly. "Four people and toast!"

"Toast?" She pushes herself up into a sitting position and finds herself suddenly with two plates being waved in front of her face. "Mmm, thank you."

"Toast for Mommy," Henry says, although the bite he takes out of one of the slices before handing it to her suggests he thinks it's for sharing.

"And honey," Thomas says, pointing at the toast and just about avoiding sticking his finger in it.

"You let me sleep in," she says, looking up at him and smiling. "And you brought me coffee and toast. I think I'll keep you."

"Honey for my honey," he says with an exaggerated wink that makes her laugh as she grabs hold of his t-shirt and pulls him in for a kiss. "Good sleep?"

" _Great_ sleep." She pauses, instinctively catching Henry as he unexpectedly hurls himself into her lap. "I feel like a new woman."

"Well, I was pretty happy with the old one." He smirks and watches as Thomas tries to join his brother in her lap, somehow managing it as she skilfully moves the plate out of harm's way.

"Old?" She raises an eyebrow and takes a bite of her toast, looking up at him as she licks the honey from her finger.

"Original," he says, correcting himself and watching as she grins, satisfied with his response. "Thomas has something to tell you."

"What do you have to tell me, sweetie?" He takes the plate out of her hand and watches as she smiles at Thomas, who has clearly completely forgotten what it is he has to tell her and frowns.

"We talked about your Halloween costume, remember?" He reminds his son and see his eyes widen as he remembers what he settled on.

"Oh yeah, I do!" Thomas's hands land on his mother's shoulders. "I wanted to be a sheep, but I don't want to be a sheep now. I'm going to be something real scary, but I don't want you to be scared, Mommy, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try." She smiles and the little boy nods and smiles back at her. "What are you going to be?"

"A scary jellyfish!" Giggling, Thomas lifts his hands from her shoulders and claps his hands excitedly.

"A jellyfish?" She turns and quirks a quick eyebrow at him before looking back at Thomas. "Now that's _much_ scarier than a sheep would be. Did Daddy help you decide?"

"Well...kind of, a little," Thomas says, biting his lip as he thinks. "Daddy said you're the bravest Mommy in the whole world but even _you're_ scared of jellyfishes, so I'm going to be a real scary one!"

"I guess we have to figure out where to find a scary jellyfish costume," she says, giving him a pointed look as he realises that he hadn't really considered jellyfish might not be on the shelves alongside ghosts and witches...

"We work in TV," he says, shrugging. "We have a whole wardrobe department."

"In TV news." She shakes her head, but she's smiling so he thinks he's going to get away with it. "We work for a news channel, Billy, I don't think there are secret closets anywhere stashed full of Halloween costumes."

"Seriously, don't worry about it, I'll figure it out." He starts to run through the list of wardrobe staff in his head, wondering who might be persuaded into making a costume for their three year-old, and what he might need to do to make it happen.

"Oh, that reminds me," she says suddenly, running her thumb lightly down Henry's nose and making him giggle, before turning to point at the bag in the corner of the room. "There's something in that bag for you."

"Is it Henry's costume?" Thomas leans up and whispers in her ear, as Henry climbs out of her lap and towards the edge of the bed.

"It is." She answers Thomas while simultaneously reaching out to stop Henry hurtling over the side of the bed and onto the floor. "Do you want to help him try it on and then he can help with yours too when we have it?"

Thomas nods and rolls onto his stomach to slide down backwards off the bed, running over to the bag and waiting as Mackenzie lifts Henry down onto the floor and follows them across the room. He smiles up at her from where he's sitting on the bed, and she squeezes his shoulder and sits down beside him as they watch Henry almost disappearing into the bag before he pulls out the spider costume inside.

"It has lots of legs!" Thomas exclaims, reaching over to the costume and stroking his hand down the fluffy front, frowning as he glances up at where they're watching both boys. "How many legs do jellyfishes have?"

"Well, they don't actually have legs, they have tentacles," he says, sliding a hand onto Mackenzie's thigh when he feels her shudder against his shoulder. "But they're sort of like legs, and they have a lot of them."

"I can put it on? The spider?" Henry drops the costume into Mackenzie's lap and she nods, smiling at him as she holds it up to assess it, realising there are buttons and Velcro running down the back of the suit.

"Come up here, honey." Mackenzie lifts Henry up and sits him on her lap, sliding his feet one by one into the legs of the suit, setting him back down into the floor to fix him into the arms, fastening the buttons and the Velcro at the back, and finally pulling the hood up, the two red eyes of the costume perched on top of his head. "Done!"

Turning around, Henry moves to the mirror at the end of the bed and his eyes go wide as he sees himself in the costume, followed by a grin that spreads slowly across his lips, the grin that makes his eyes crinkle in the exact same way Mackenzie's do.

"Gosh, look at that, Thomas," Mackenzie winks at him and looks at their eldest boy, who's grinning at his brother's costume. "I don't know how that big, scary spider got in here, do you?"

"No, I really don't," Thomas says with a giggle. "Look at his legs, Mommy!"

"I know, so many big, hairy legs." He watches as Henry does what can only be described as a shimmy to make the legs move, laughing when they do. "And the scary red eyes. Do you see those, Tom Tom, the spider's eyes?"

"But it's me, Mommy, Henny!" Henry giggles and covers his mouth, his amusement clear. There will come a day soon when his son can pronounce his own name properly, which is as it should be, but damn, there's something unbearably cute about "Henny."

"Henry? _My_ Henry?" Mackenzie smiles at him as he nods and steps closer to her. "Oh my goodness, I didn't recognise you, sweetie, I really thought you were a big, scary spider. Did you know it was your brother, Thomas?"

"Yep, I knew," Thomas says with a nod. "'Cos it was like a spider, but with a Henry face."

"Well, you're smarter than me," Mackenzie says, smiling at Thomas. "I bet I'm going to think you're a real jellyfish too, when you get your costume."

"But I'm going to tell you it's me, Mommy." Thomas's expression is serious, a faint frown creasing his forehead. "So you're not too scared."

He watches as Mackenzie smiles at their eldest son, so sweet in his obvious need to make sure he doesn't scare her, even while sticking with his decision to dress as the one thing she's terrified of. Henry steps in front of the mirror again and grins at himself in his spider suit, and Thomas moves to stand next to him, tugging lightly on one of the legs of the costume, curious about his suddenly multi-legged brother.

"So, I promised them a trip to the park today." As the boys amuse themselves, and each other, he turns to Mackenzie, still sitting beside him on the bed, and smiles at her. "The ducks and the playground seemed to be high on the wish list."

"Really? How unusual." She quirks an eyebrow and smiles back. "I'm on board with that, especially if we can detour for hot chocolate."

"It's Saturday," he says, leaning in and kissing her quickly, taking the opportunity while the boys are preoccupied. "We can do whatever we like."

*

There's a definite chill in the air as they stroll through the park, and he's glad of his gloves as they stop to feed the ducks, both boys sporting pink cheeks by the time they move on to the playground. They're both wearing hats, red for Thomas, blue for Henry, each pulled down over their ears to ward off the cold breeze as they run excitedly towards the slide. He watches Thomas climb the steps confidently, followed by Henry with Mackenzie's hands guiding him safely to to the top of the slide so he can follow his brother down.

When the slide loses its appeal, the boys move over to the swings and spend ten minutes shouting "Higher! Faster!" until both are giggling almost uncontrollably. It's times like this he marvels at his lot, at how in just a few years he's gone from the miserable, cynical guy that he was, to one who thanks his lucky stars every damn day for what his wife and kids have brought to his life. He loves his job, it's a big and fundamental part of who he is, and he knows Mackenzie feels the same about hers, but these are his favourite moments. Standing here, watching his boys laughing and playing, knowing they're happy in no small part because of him. It's everything he never dared hoped for, until he fell in love with Mackenzie.

The promise of drinks and snacks eventually lures them from the playground, and he gives in to a tired Henry demanding to be picked up, while Thomas happily holds Mackenzie's hand as they walk towards the cafe.

"What are you going to be for Halloween?" Thomas asks Mackenzie as he looks up at her.

"It's a good question," she answers, and he sees her squeeze their son's hand as they walk. "Daddy and I need to figure that out, don't we?"

"Yep," Thomas says, a faint frown appearing on his face. "But I think you shouldn't be too scary, 'cos me and Henry are being real scary."

"Alright." She smiles down at him. "What do you think we should wear, Tom Tom?"

"Um..." Thomas bites his lip, falls into a thoughtful quiet for just a few seconds, before grinning up at her. "I think you should be a cheerleader!"

"A cheerleader?" She turns to him and lifts an eyebrow as a faint smirk creeps onto her lips. "Like father, like son. Could've been worse, I suppose, I don't know _how_ I'd have dressed as a gossip columnist."

"You're funny," he says, watching as she nods and her smirk grows a little wider. It was a while before Nina was something they could joke about, and just before Thomas was born she had told him in a bout of sudden insecurity that during the six months he was with Nina, she had been certain she'd lost him for good.

"I know." Keeping hold of Thomas's hand, she turns and kisses him on the cheek, murmuring into his ear. "Think of something good, Billy, and quick, because there is no way on earth I'm dressing as a cheerleader for Halloween."

"How about Mommy dresses as a superhero?" He looks at Thomas and grins. "That'd be cool, right?"

"Batman!" Thomas gasps and returns his grin. "Mommy could be Batman!"

"Well, she _could_..." he says, glancing at Mackenzie, whose eyebrows are raised almost impossibly high. "Or I could be Batman and Mommy could be Catwoman. Mommy would be a really great cat, don't you think?"

"Yeah, with a tail, and whiskers, and ears!" Thomas laughs and turns to his mother. "Kitty cat, Mommy, you should be a kitty cat."

"Mommy's going to be a kitty cat?" Henry lifts his head from Will's shoulder to look down at his brother, squirming to be put down on the ground beside him, not objecting when Will keeps hold of his hand.

"I guess so," Mackenzie says, smiling at both boys before turning to him, frowning slightly. "Thanks for that, Batman."

"Hey, at least this way you're spared the cheerleader outfit." He moves closer to her and smiles. "And you get to go home with the caped crusader."

"Oh, I don't know," she says, lowering her voice just slightly. "I'll be the hottest pussy in town, I could probably go home with anyone I want."

"Honey, you're _always_ the hottest pussy in town," he says, glancing quickly down at the boys to make sure they're paying no attention. "But believe me, I'm the Batman who's going to be taking you home and playing with your tail."

"If you promise to leave your mask on..." She smirks and squeezes his hand. "You might just have yourself a deal."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _He turns back to find Henry has already taken his clothes off in readiness and is wearing only his underpants and, for no reason he can fathom, just one sock as he waits for his costume. Giving himself a silent high five for remembering how Mackenzie got their toddler into his spider garb, he scoops Henry onto his lap and makes a much easier job of this costume than the first._

When he insisted to Mackenzie that he would be absolutely fine with getting both boys changed and bringing them into the newsroom, he hadn't given much thought to the fact that Henry is much more independent, more determined than a year ago, less easy to wrangle. Thomas's costume (made, as he had hoped, by one of their wardrobe staff, swayed by Mackenzie's powers of persuasion in combination with their son's sweetness) is elaborate and it takes longer than it probably should to figure out how to get him into it. He manages it eventually and Thomas grins at himself in the mirror, the reflection of a pale blue jellyfish looking back at him. He turns back to find Henry has already taken his clothes off in readiness and is wearing only his underpants and, for no reason he can fathom, just one sock as he waits for his costume. Giving himself a silent high five for remembering how Mackenzie got their toddler into his spider garb, he scoops Henry onto his lap and makes a much easier job of this costume than the first.

"Do we look scary, Daddy?" Thomas asks, moving to stand next to his brother, half hidden behind his flowing tentacles and peeking out from under his domed hat.

"Big scary spider!" Henry grins at Thomas, who giggles excitedly.

"You look super scary, both of you." He smiles at the two of them and reaches for his phone. "How about we take a picture of you two tiny scary creatures to send to Mommy and tell her we're on our way to the office?"

They pose happily for the picture before he manages to bundle them out of the door and into the car he remembered to call for earlier. His costume, along with Mackenzie's, is in a suit bag, ready to be changed into when they make it to ACN, and he can't deny how much he's looking forward to seeing her as Catwoman. They're barely at the end of their block when a message comes back in response to his photo, and he smirks as he reads it, _'Damn, Billy, we make cute kids. See you soon, xx'._

It's Jim's office he heads to when they arrive, assuming correctly that the boys will be excited to see him, almost as excited as they are to see the newsroom decked out in full Halloween style, cobwebs draped across doors, fake spiders on the computer screens, and pumpkins on desks. Just a few years ago, he would have rolled his eyes and grumbled, but he's a much more cheerful guy than he used to be, and he's learnt to enjoy Halloween now that he can see it through his sons' eyes.

"Uncle Jimmy!" Thomas spots Jim first and waves when he turns towards them. "Guess what I am?"

"Wow, look at you! I'm pretty sure you're a jellyfish, buddy." Jim grins as Thomas stands proudly in front of him in his costume. "I hope your Mom's been warned."

"Yep." Thomas nods, biting his lip faintly before he goes on. "I told Mommy that I look like a jellyfish but that it's just me, and I'm not really scary."

" _I'm_ scary!" Henry runs to stand beside his brother and grins up at Jim. "I'm a big spider!" 

"Yeah, you are, Henry, and you both look awesome," Jim says, looking at the boys before looking up at him, shrugging slightly. "They can hang out here with me for a while, if you want to run upstairs and drag her from her desk."

"You want to stay here with Uncle Jim while I go and get Mommy?" He asks, unsurprised when they both nod instantly. They adore Jim, they always have, and he doesn't remember them ever turning down an offer to hang out with him.

"Where's _your_ costume, Daddy?" Thomas asks, frowning slightly before spotting the bags in his hand and pointing at them. "Oh, in there?"

"Yep, and Mommy's too," he says, holding up the bags, smiling as he sees Tess approaching to no doubt make a fuss of his sons in their costumes. "I'll be right down, you be good for Uncle Jim for a little while, okay?"

"Okay," Henry says, his attention already shifting to Tess, who no doubt comes bearing treats, as she usually does.

*

When he makes it up to Mackenzie's office, Millie is on the phone but she smiles and gestures for him to go in. Mackenzie is at her desk, glasses on, peering at something in front of her with a frown, a frown that suggests it's something finance related, which she's grown less afraid of since becoming president even though she still concedes that numbers will never be her forte.

"Hey." She looks up and smiles at him as she pulls her glasses off and folds them down onto the desk. "The boys downstairs?"

"Yeah, I have a horrible feeling they may have already started hitting the Halloween candy by the time we get down there." He steps over to the table across the room and drapes the bags over one of the chairs.

"Tess?" Mackenzie knows as well as he does that the Halloween sugar frenzy will begin in earnest and it could be hours before they crash and burn.

"Always." He nods and unzips the bag containing her costume, pulling it carefully out and handing it to her when she walks over to stand next to him. "Nice nails."

"I'm not sure jet black polish was the best choice before a meeting with finance," she says with a smirk as she turns to head towards the bathroom. "But I guess it could have been worse. At least I wasn't wearing my tail."

"I'm looking forward to the tail," he says, grinning at her. "I've always liked your tail, honey." 

"I've noticed that." She smirks, looking over her shoulder at him. "Thank you."

He's kicking off his shoes and has draped his sweater and belt across one of the chairs when she emerges from the bathroom and stands in the doorway. His eyes sweep instinctively down her body, cataloguing the dark eye make-up, the tight suit, unzipped just low enough to offer a glimpse of cleavage and perfectly showcasing her long legs. Swallowing hard, he pulls his gaze back up to her face, not expecting the slightly unsure, awkward look he sees there.

"I feel..." She pauses and he waits, watching as she bites her lip and steps away from the doorway over to where he's standing. "Ridiculous. I feel quite ridiculous."

"I can't even begin to tell you how far from ridiculous you look," he says, letting out a long sigh of what he hopes she recognises as appreciation. "If I were to throw out the first words that are hitting me right now, I guarantee ridiculous wouldn't be on the list."

"I just...I mean, we're going to the school pizza thing, and if all the other parents are dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert the chimney sweep, I may die." She sighs and zips her suit up a little higher before pushing her hair back over her shoulders. "I mean I _literally_ may die. Of shame, if I'm not being clear."

"Oh, you're being clear." He steps closer and slowly unzips her suit back down to where it was before her sudden self-consciousness kicked in. "Clear, but fucking crazy. You look so, so good, Mackenzie, seriously. The Mary Poppins crowd are going to _wish_ they looked half as hot as you do."

"I'm not complaining, but I feel like you're approaching this from a place of considerable bias," she says, the worried look lifting from her face, a trace of a smile chasing it. "Maybe I'll feel like less of an idiot when you're in your costume too."

"Hint taken." He squeezes her shoulder and steps around her, his costume over his arm as he heads for the bathroom.

It's not until he finishes changing and looks in the bathroom mirror that it suddenly hits him that their kids are downstairs, and in order to retrieve them, he and Mackenzie will be stepping onto the elevator wearing a cape and tail respectively. He also realises, as he heads back into her office, that the staff are going to enjoy it way, _way_ too much.

She's back at her desk and there's something about the combination of her catsuit and her glasses perched precariously on her nose as she shuts down her computer that threatens to slay him. Suddenly very conscious of how tight fitting his own costume his, he forces himself to think dull thoughts, _really_ dull thoughts...a tactic which seems to work until she stands up and he catches sight of her boots. Black leather, towering heels, the boots reach just above her knees, zipped down the inside, and he has no control over the faint groan that escapes him.

"You like?" She moves from behind the desk and stands in front of him, all previous traces of uncertainty apparently long gone.

"Hell yeah, I like." He nods at her, grinning as he notices that she's added the final touch to her costume, the small, pointy pair of cat ears which now perch on the top of her head.

"You're looking pretty good yourself there, Batman." She bites her lip and reaches out to rest a hand on his chest before running her fingers down his stomach, settling on the heavy belt slung low on his hips. "If someone suggested abolishing the entire NYPD in favour of you stepping in and keeping this city safe, I'd be okay with that. Damn, Billy, maybe we should dress up more often."

"Well...you know, masquerade balls are probably due for another comeback," he says, losing his train of thought entirely when she reaches down to pick up her bag.

"Are you looking at my tail?" He can hear the giggle coating her tone and it makes him smile.

"Always." He smirks as she turns back to face him, and then moves in and kisses her, catching her by surprise, if the faint sound she lets out is any indication. "You know the staff downstairs are going to have a fucking blast with this, the two of us dressed like this, I mean?"

"Can you blame them?" She gestures down to her boots before raising her eyebrows in the direction of his mask.

"I guess not." He shrugs and watches her turn to the phone on her desk and hit what he guesses is the number for one of the News Night team.

"Hey, Tess," she says, smiling into the phone. "I don't suppose you happen to have seen a small jellyfish and an even smaller spider? Jim's office...perfect, we'll be down in a few minutes. Thanks."

Millie doesn't hide her delight at their costumes when they exit the office, smiling broadly at both of them, making him realise that if Millie is this amused, the reaction when they get downstairs is going to be another thing entirely. In the elevator they make it no more than four floors before the doors slide open and they're greeted by a wide eyed young intern. He steps nervously inside and stares briefly at them before apparently trying to make himself invisible in the corner of the elevator.

"Hello, Daniel," Mackenzie says, once again amazing him with how she makes a point of knowing everyone's names and never forgetting a single one. "How are you?"

"Good, yeah, thanks, Ms McHale, um..." Daniel flushes slightly, a completely reasonable response for a young man trapped in an elevator with the president and flagship anchor of ACN dressed as Batman and Catwoman.

"It's Mackenzie, please," she says, smiling at him and sounding as professional as ever despite her thigh high boots and cat ears. "I worry I'm in trouble when I hear Ms McHale."

Daniel manages a small smile as he pushes himself back further into the corner and fixes his gaze firmly on his feet. Watching the young man's obvious nerves, he can't help thinking back to the time before Mackenzie came to ACN, a time when he seemed to inspire nothing but fear in the young staffers. She was the one to turn things around, to turn him into a decent person again, even if he stubbornly fought it at first, and the memory is such a vivid one that he reaches for her hand, squeezing her fingers when she looks at him with a surprised smile. The doors slide open and Daniel shuffles from the back of the elevator and steps out.

"Have a good evening, Daniel," he says, grinning when the young man turns back with a shy smile on his face.

"Thanks, you too." Daniel nods, his smile flitting between the two of them. "Um, happy Halloween too, I guess."

"And around the land, the sound of a beautiful refrain..." Mackenzie grins at him as the doors slide shut, her hand still in his. "Will McAvoy wished me a good evening."

"Yeah, right," he says, pulling her against him and tugging gently on her tail. "With no mention at all of the ACN president in her catsuit and thigh high boots."

"Well, look at that, it's our floor." She leans up and kisses him quickly before grabbing his hand and pulling him from the elevator.

Jim's attempts to hide the expression on his face fail spectacularly as he looks at him first, eyeing his cape, then shifting his gaze to Mackenzie's boots, before running a hand awkwardly through his hair.

"Don't say a fucking thing, Harper." Mackenzie steps closer, her grin softening her threat slightly. "Now, I seem to have misplaced my kids."

No sooner have the words left her mouth when an enthusiastic "Mommy!" rings out from across the bullpen, followed by Thomas arriving at Mackenzie's side, eager to show off his costume. Grinning up at them, Thomas's eyes are wide as he takes in his parents in full superhero garb.

"Do you have a tail, Mommy?" Thomas giggles as Mackenzie turns around to show him the answer to his question.

"Look at you, my little jellyfish," Mackenzie says, smiling at Thomas as he mimics her movement and spins around to show her the back of his costume, blue tentacles trailing down his back as far as his knees. "If I didn't know it was my Tom Tom under there, I might be scared."

Tess crosses the room with Henry in tow, a telltale trace of chocolate across his cheek, obviously having gone unnoticed by Tess after whatever clandestine treat she provided. He knows his son better than Tess does, however, and that includes knowing that two year-olds can't keep secrets, so she's about to be busted.

"Hey buddy," he says, scooping Henry up into his arms and smiling at Tess. "What's this all over your face?"

"Chocolate!" Henry grins as his hands come to rest on his mask. "Tess got cupcakes." 

"She does, huh?" He gives Tess a mock glare and she shrugs.

"We only had a little bite, Daddy," Thomas says, momentarily distracted from Mackenzie's tail. "They're spider cakes but they taste like chocolate, not like spiders."

"For the record, I don't know how he knows what spiders taste like," Mackenzie says, and he sees her eyes light up as Tamara crosses the room with the plate of cupcakes.

Taking one from the plate, she breaks it in half and takes a bite, closing her eyes for a second as she savours the sweetness. He knows it's likely she hasn't bothered eating since breakfast, it's not uncommon and he tries not to bug her, he knows she's the queen of existing solely on coffee, but it doesn't mean he has to like it. He's glancing up at the clock, aware that they have to leave soon, so he doesn't realise she's about to feed him a bite of cake until he feels her hand in front of him and smells the chocolate. Opening his mouth, he lets her push the cake between his lips, and licks the frosting from her fingers, watching a slow smirk slide across her lips.

"We need to get moving, honey." Mackenzie takes another bite and puts the remainder back on the plate.

"Is it trick or treat time?" Thomas asks, bouncing up and down excitedly, beaming at them. "Sure is," he answers, and Henry starts to wriggle in his arms to be put back down on the floor.

"Time to say bye to everyone, and then we need to go and see Leona, okay?"

“Yay! I like going to Leona’s house, Mommy,” Thomas grins at Mackenzie, peeking out once again from under the tentacles of his costume.

“I know you do, darling,” she says, grinning back at him. “And Leona loves it when you and Henry visit. You’re going to sleep over there on Friday, and that’s going to be fun, isn’t it?”

“Yep!” He smiles at Thomas’s excitement, knowing he’s well aware of how Leona will spoil the two of them on Friday. “She said we’re going to have hot dogs and ice cream.”

“Pink ice cream at Yona's house?” Henry asks, his eyes wide at the thought of his favourite sweet treat.

“Maybe.” Mackenzie smiles at him, and then at their youngest son. “I bet Leona has a whole selection of flavours."

“Are you sleeping over too?” Thomas asks, absently stroking one of the furry legs adorning Henry’s spider costume.

“No, just you and Henry,” she says, and he wonders if Thomas is about to raise a protest despite his enthusiasm so far. “You’re going to have lots of fun with Leona, and then you can come home on Saturday and tell us all about it.”

“Okay..." Thomas frowns slightly as he looks at Mackenzie. "But what are you going to do?”

“Well, Daddy and I are going to go out for dinner.” She glances up at him, a tantalising smirk on her face. "And when you and Henry are in your beds at Leona's house, Daddy and I will be going to bed in our apartment."

"'Cos you have a busy job, and two busy boys, sometimes you get tired." Thomas nods wisely, repeating what she's told them on the rare occasions her tiredness has got the better of her, as she looks at him with amusement in her eyes.

"That's right, buddy," he says, answering his son, but his gaze still on Mackenzie. "Daddy's going to make sure Mommy gets some sleep."

*

"You know this is crazy, right?" He turns to her as they climb out of the car in front of Leona's house, grabbing Henry before he tries to make a run for the steps. "She sends a car for us just so she can have them knock on the door for trick or treat, she gives them enough candy to fill a hot tub, and then we leave."

"I know," Mackenzie says with what he recognises as an indulgent smile. "And the day they don't love every minute of it we'll stop, but right now they do love it, so relax over there, grumpy pants."

"Just an observation," he says with a shrug as they climb the stairs, Thomas's hand clasped in Mackenzie's as he helps Henry up behind them.

"After she has them sleep over on Friday, there's a good chance she'll never want us on her doorstep again." Smirking as they reach the door, Mackenzie reaches for the doorbell. "I suggest we take all the candy we can tonight and run with it."

"I don't know whose sugar high should I be more worried about tonight, yours or theirs." He grins as she sticks out her tongue at him, pulling it back in just as the door opens and Leona stands in front of them, a wide smile on her face.

"Trick or treat?!" The boys yell in unison, and Henry giggles as Leona bends down to their level.

"Well, well, what do we have here? A jellyfish and a spider? Wow, I'd say both of you deserve a whole pile of treats," Leona says, as both boys grin even wider. "Come on inside and I'll see what I can find for you."

Thomas goes first but Henry is right behind him, his slight lack of speed more than made up for in enthusiasm as he follows his brother down the huge hallway. As ever, Leona has gone all out with her decorations, the place looks like a themed store, and he knows it's purely for his sons' benefit. Leona had stepped up almost immediately after Charlie died and was always there for Mackenzie when she needed advice, when she yearned for reassurance during her first few months as president. He remembers being surprised at first when Mackenzie told him she had really come to enjoy Leona's company, but as they started to spend more time with her, especially after Thomas was born, he realised there was nobody better to have as a friend than Leona Lansing.

He hears Thomas's excited tone as Leona leads them into the kitchen, and when he and Mackenzie reach the door he realises why. There are two pumpkin shaped tubs on the kitchen table, one marked with a 'T', the other with an 'H', and he can't even begin to imagine how much candy is in them. The boys scramble up to sit at the table, where Leona has glasses of milk set out for them, and start investigating the contents. Mackenzie stops beside him and slides her hand under his cape to rest it against his back, rubbing her nails slowly across the tight fitting material of his suit.

"You two sure as hell went all out." Leona turns to them, a smirk fixed firmly on her lips as she takes in the full effect of their costumes. "Those are some serious boots, Mac, my God."

"The boys said they thought we should be superheroes," Mackenzie says, with a faintly embarrassed shrug as Leona's eyes widen a little further. "So here we are, Batman and Catwoman, mask for him, tail for me, the whole nine yards."

"The school pizza party isn't going to know what hit it," Leona says, stepping closer and lowering glancing at him. "Pretty sure you've noticed this already, based on the looks you're giving her, but your wife looks as hot as hell tonight, McAvoy."

"Oh, I've noticed," he says, no longer thrown off balance by Leona's refreshing bluntness. "Believe me, I've _definitely_ noticed."

"Good, I'd hate to think you were slipping in your old age." Leona grins at him and then winks at Mackenzie. "I know you have the school thing to get through, so just remember with every sugar high comes the inevitable crash. You'll get to peel these outfits off of each other before the night is out."

"Or we'll fall asleep still wearing them and wake up as a slightly dishevelled pair of superheroes," Mackenzie says as she returns Leona's grin, the scratching of her nails across his back suggesting she has no intention of letting that happen.

"Well, you have the place to yourselves Friday, you can always put those costumes right back on again," Leona says, glancing over to where both boys have fallen silent and seem to be engaged in removing all of the candy from the tubs and laying it out on the table.

"Thank you again for Friday, they're really excited about sleeping over, Henry about the possibility of pink ice cream as much as anything else, I think." Mackenzie smiles and steps over to the table, turning to her sons. "You can both choose one small thing to eat now, and then the rest of the candy needs to go back into the tubs for later, okay?"

"One thing?" Henry looks up at her, his forehead creased into a small frown as he prepares to bargain. "Two things?"

"No, sweetie, just one thing for now," Mackenzie says, in the tone she has perfected that somehow strikes the ideal balance between kind and firm. "We're going for pizza, remember? After the pizza you can have another piece of candy, and then you'll have lots left over for tomorrow, and the next day, maybe even the day after that."

"That's a lot of days," Thomas says, putting his chosen candy aside before starting to move the rest back into his tub, grinning at Henry who still looks unsure. "Pizza, Henry, with cheese and mushrooms, your favourite!"

"Shooms..." Henry says nothing more but seems to make a snap decision based on his brother's words, and starts to pile his candy back into his tub, following Thomas's lead in putting aside one piece to eat now.

"They're good kids," Leona says, watching as they finish putting the candy back into the tubs before she turns to him and smirks. "The McHale genes, I don't doubt."

"Can't argue with that," he says with a shrug, smiling at Mackenzie as he heads to the table. "You all done here, guys? We don't want to be late for the pizza, do we?"

*

By the time the car pulls up outside their apartment, Henry is already asleep and clinging to Mackenzie, while Thomas is putting up a valiant effort to stay awake, his eyes drooping as he yawns. Asking the driver if wouldn't mind waiting for a few minutes, he gets out of the car ahead of Mackenzie and climbs the steps to unlock the door for her to carry Henry straight inside. By the time he gets back to the car, Thomas has lost his battle and is curled up against the seat, a faint frown on his face as he sleeps. Grabbing the tubs of candy, and the bags of clothes, he again heads up the stairs to deposit them in the hallway before returning for Thomas, scooping him up against his chest and nodding his thanks to the driver.

In the boys' bedroom, Mackenzie has changed Henry out of his spider costume and into his pyjamas, and she's just sliding him under the blanket when he walks in with Thomas.

"Ah, I wondered if he'd last much longer," she says, smiling at their sleeping son, jellyfish tentacles streaming down his back.

She pushes Henry's hair softly out of his face and kisses his forehead before she stands up and gently removes the domed hat part of Thomas's costume and sets it down on the chest of drawers. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he unzips the jellyfish suit and manages to take it off without waking Thomas, smiling as Mackenzie sits down and hands him the pyjamas she's just pulled from the drawer. He knows he isn't as smooth as she is at this, making the switch from clothes to pyjamas for the boys, but he's a whole lot better than he used to be and at least he doesn't just give up anymore and let them go to bed clothed.

"I'm going to leave you to it," she says, squeezing his shoulder and leaning down to kiss Thomas's cheek. "I really want to take this make-up off."

He knows Thomas must be exhausted when he lets him change him and get him into bed without even a flutter of his eyelids, and for a minute he just stays where he is, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his two boys sleeping peacefully. When he does eventually move, spurred on by the realisation that he really does want to help Mackenzie remove her catsuit, he remembers to flick the switch to turn the small nightlight on before heading from his sons' room towards his own.

Mackenzie is coming out of the bathroom as he walks in and sits on the bed, and he notes that her face is free of make-up but her costume is thankfully still on, boots and all. She stands in front of him and rests her hands on his shoulders as he shifts his instinctively to her hips, and there's a faintly weary smile on her face.

"Kids are wiped out," he says, smiling up at her, running his thumbs slowly across her hipbones.

"God, they're not the only ones, I'm exhausted." She pauses and pulls the cat ears from the top of her head, dropping them onto the floor behind her as she leans down and removes his mask, her smile brightening. "You know, I really should have had our babies when I was thirty and still had some shred of energy left. I don't how _you_ manage it, old man."

"I'm lucky, I guess. I have a hot young wife to keep me energised." He pulls her closer and she laughs softly as she almost loses her balance, her tiredness messing with her ability to stand in her heels. "I think I may even have enough energy to help you get this costume off..."

"I do like the sound of that," she says, her eyes landing on his as his hand reaches to unzip the front of her suit, pulling it down slowly, his fingers tickling the soft skin of her stomach.

"Come here." He stands up and manoeuvres her down onto the bed, watching as she leans back onto her elbows and bites her lip as his hands roam slowly down her thighs. "Trick or treat?"

"Tricks are for fools, Billy," she murmurs, the tiredness in her voice coated with something more promising. "Treat, every time."

"Glad to hear it," he says, smiling at her as he starts to unzip one of her boots. "No fucking idea what I'd have done if you'd said trick."

"I'm not an idiot, I get the appeal of these boots, but I'm so, so glad to be taking them off." She lets out a long sigh of relief, a sigh that becomes a moan when he grasps her calf and starts to massage gently. "God, that feels good."

"If Batman can't soothe Catwoman's tired legs after a long day fighting Gotham's crime, there's really no hope for the universe," he says as he moves to her other leg and takes off her second boot every bit as slowly as he did the first.

"Oh honey, I really couldn't live with being responsible for the downfall of the universe." She grins and reaches forward to loop her arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of her. "Is there anything else Batman feels he should do to ensure the safety of the citizens of Gotham?"

"I can think of a few things." He pulls back and unzips the catsuit the rest of the way down. "Starting with this."

"I've changed my mind." She lets out a giggle and he smirks at her as she goes on. "I fucking love Halloween."


End file.
